In our newsletter, I’ve often expressed how incredibly special our students and families are to us. It is with great sadness that I share on Sunday, April 14, one of our parents in our community, Kelly Forster was tragically killed in a car accident. She’s the mother of Rya, Jack and Reagan Whale and wife to Korb Whale.
I met Kelly back in 2018 when she first attended our Guelph PA Day camp with Rya and Jack (Reagan being too young at the time). Her vibrant energy and enthusiasm on an early winter morning immediately marked her as definitely a fun mom! Her infectious laughter and warm smile were incredibly contagious!
Despite living an hour away, Kelly and her children regularly attended our Guelph camps. I was deeply touched by their commitment, especially knowing the considerable effort it entailed. Moreover, Kelly went above and beyond, organizing transportation for other children from Palmerston to join our camps. She was one of those people I really looked forward to seeing and being around.
Kelly’s support for our program was very special. Her encouragement also helped us to make a special pop-up French camp week in Palmerston, Ontario, something we hadn’t done before at that point. I really appreciated Kelly’s genuine care and ideas.
Kelly’s profession as a registered dietitian specializing in eating disorders illuminated her depth of compassion and expertise. During COVID she gave me great feedback on one of our online camp activities where we were categorizing food into often, sometimes and less often foods. She helped teach us that while this is a very common activity done in schools and camps, it can cause potential harm to children’s (and adults’) relationship with food. I even wrote a big newsletter to our families after that to discuss further, which can be read here. She really cared deeply about helping people!
Her passion for her work shone brightly at her funeral, where many shared stories of Kelly’s unwavering commitment to improving understanding around food and its impact on our lives. Her program, ‘Food For Life,’ delivered in collaboration with the CMHA, stands as a testament to her enduring legacy.
To honour Kelly’s memory a GoFundMe campaign has been started to keep the Food For Life program alive. To read more about the details of the program and to contribute you can visit the link below.
Contribute to the Food For Life Program
Kelly’s light will continue to illuminate our memories, and I am profoundly grateful for the privilege of knowing her.
Here is a picture of Rya and Jack when they brought a chicken to online camp during the pandemic and it always makes me laugh when I see. Following it is a picture of Rya and our pal Mason at our Palmerston camp.
This was a hard newsletter to write. I feel very lucky I got to meet Kelly and I am grateful for all of you who are in our learning community. Thanks for being here.
Sincerely,
Mary and the team at Les Petites Pommes